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Seville improving under Emery – who has yet to win against Barça | FC Barcelona
Unai Emery took over at Seville on January 14th and in the month and a half since then, the team have taken 10 out of a possible 15 points, with just one defeat. Emery’s record against Barça with Almeria, Valencia and Spartak Moscow is pretty undistinguished for such a top coach, with nine defeats and five draws over the last five seasons.
Barcelona are set to play a "bridge-building" football match against a team of Israelis and Palestinians. Israeli President Shimon Peres and Barcelona's president Sandro Rossell said the game would take place in Israel's Ramat Gan stadium on 31 July. An aide to Mr Peres told Israel's Ynet news that such a game "could promote peace".
Islam’s holy city of Mecca is to witness a pioneer football match between the two Spanish legend clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona, as part of inaugurating the new high-speed railway infrastructure (AVE) in Saudi Arabia that Spain’s syndicate is to develop. While there has not been any confirmation of the deal, Marco sports news reported on Thursday that the event’s organizers affirm the game will pave the way in the Kingdom, which will be Spain’s crowning achievement for its involvement in constructing high-speed train in the country.
Never before have Barcelona had the top goalscorers in both the top two divisions of Spanish football. But that might well happen this year if Leo Messi and Gerard Deulofeu continue scoring the way they are. With 37 goals the Argentinian is well in command in the first division, while the Catalan from the town of Riudarenes is currently level pegging with Charles of Almeria in the chase to top the scoring in the second division. Both players have 15 goals.
Tottenham Hotspur have a battle on their hands to keep hold of their shot stopper Hugo Lloris. Portuguese paper A Bola reports Lloris is on Barcelona's shortlist along with Liverpool's Pepe Reina and Manchester United's David De Gea. They also suggest that he has been put forward as a target by Barca's sporting director Andoni Zubizaretta.
Real Madrid goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas is recovering more quickly than expected from a fracture in his left hand and could be back in a month, he said on Thursday. "I am getting better all the time, about halfway there," he said at a promotional event in Madrid. "There is a month to go. I will have to make a bit more of an effort to regain the mobility I had before," he added. "But I want to return as it's worse being away from the pitch than being able to play."
Swansea boss Michael Laudrup has refused to be drawn on links with Real Madrid as he prepares for the Capital One Cup final but played down his interest in managing an elite club. "I do not dream about the top clubs," the former Brondby, Getafe and Mallorca boss said. "It's not important to me. I understand that it's the ultimate goal for coaches who haven't played at the top level. For a Briton, the clear goal is coaching Manchester United, taking over from Sir Alex Ferguson. I can easily understand that, but it's not the life for me."
Real president Florentino Perez and Beiersdorf executives presented the agreement, which runs to the end of the 2015-16 season, at the club's Bernabeu stadium on Friday. "From today Nivea is one of our sponsors and will accompany us in all our objectives and challenges," Perez said. "We are joining forces in our quest to be leaders."
